Nbc's Untamed `Pride' Too Wild

TV REVIEW

Here's one series that deserves flares, smoke signals, jungle drums, anything to alert the public: Father of the Pride is an adult show done up as a children's program.

NBC considers it mature fare. Creator Jeffrey Katzenberg says the computer-animated comedy is not for children. The sex jokes in the premiere, at 9 tonight on WESH-Channel 2, render it unlikely entertainment for young viewers.

You might have missed that point in the oft-repeated promos during the Summer Olympics, but parents should beware. Katzenberg says a 9 p.m. slot sends the message it's an adult show. Then why is NBC repeating the racy premiere at 8 p.m. Saturday?

All the cute lions, pandas and monkeys in Siegfried & Roy's man-made jungle have provocative topics on their minds. Imagine Goofy, Dumbo and Jiminy Cricket opining on intimate matters, and you'll understand this strange kid-adult hybrid of a show.

Here's another smoke signal: Father of the Pride isn't really for adults either. NBC did a brilliant sales job during the Olympics linking the show to Shrek because both come from Katzenberg and the DreamWorks studio.

But for all its sophistication in animation, Father of the Pride falls short on the laughs. The premiere is about two couples -- one lion, the other panda -- and whether each will make whoopee.

The lions, Larry (voice supplied by John Goodman) and Kate (Cheryl Hines), have logged 17 years together, are parents of two cubs and long for some private time. The pandas, Foo-Lin (guest star Lisa Kudrow) and Nelson (guest star Andy Richter), are strangers brought together to mate.

The virginal Nelson falls for Kate instead -- an old sitcom plot that doesn't play any better in new-fangled animation. The animals carry on as if they were humans, watching television, visiting the neighborhood bar and discussing New Yorker cartoons.

The show casts Siegfried (voice by Julian Holloway) and Roy (Dave Herman) as outlandish overseers who spy on their crass menagerie and make zany remarks.

"It gets old real fast," Larry says of his owners.

He could be speaking about Father of the Pride. Innuendoes, coarse language and sexual advice fill the script. The harshest dialogue falls to Sarmoti (Carl Reiner), a legendary performer and Kate's father, who tires of the pandas' reticence.

There's a brilliant sight gag about scents driving animals' sexual desire. There's another sight gag, with a house cat, that is so murky that dirty minds can read whatever they want into it.

In the second episode next week, Father of the Pride turns into an elaborate plug for Today. Matt Lauer, drawn with a lush head of hair, puts in a guest appearance. Katie Couric becomes the subject of a crude remark. Sarmoti calls Today "the Cadillac of morning shows," adding "they win in total households, all key demos."

NBC is taking corporate synergy too far while not pushing hard enough for better comedy writing. Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group, says the network is swinging for the fences with this show, which inherits the Frasier time slot.